(The beginning of Sayuri's life is under the character biography for Chiyo). After Sayuri becomes an apprentice geisha, Hastumomo continually tries to bring down Sayuri's reputation, the same way she did to Hatsuoki. As a result, Mameha devises a plan to get Sayuri to the very top. Her plan involves the betting war for her mizuage, or virginity, which she plans to sell (this happens with all geisha). She makes Sayuri very popular with two men, Nobu, the chairman's business partner, and Dr. Crab (who's name, Crab, is a nickname by the way Sayuri perceives to his stand), a patron of many mizuage. She also introduces Sayuri to a famous artist, who adopts her as his model, and uses her as the model for an upcoming play's advertising poster (the artist is not shown in the movie, Sayuri is said to have the lead and is on the poster for that reason, though in the book, she simply has a higher role, not the lead). In both cases, it ends up infuriating Hatsumomo that she goes as far as demanding for an answer from her about her older sister's plans.Just before her mizuage is to be sold, Sayuri attends a party held by the Baron, Mameha's danna. At his home, the Baron convinces Sayuri to enter a private room with him after the party, where he undresses her and leaves her. In the book version, she tells her Mameha's dresser, Mr.Itchoda about it, but he reassures her it was ok as long as her virginity remained intact. The next day, he tells Mameha about what happened, but the subject is never raised between them, securing their friendship. In the movie version, she was very upset with Sayuri about it because it would cost her the chance to be adopted. Eventually, Mameha realizes that it really was Hatsumomo's plan to break up their close bond by spreading lies about Sayuri and the Baron in order to have Pumpkin be adopted by Mother all along.At the beginning of bidding war for her mizuage in the book, it started off with Nobu and Dr.Crab. However, he later dropped out when it got more expensive and the Baron took his place in the bidding war against Dr.Crab. The mistress in charge of the bidding tricks the Baron into not bidding any higher so as to not hurt Mameha's feelings. In the movie, Mameha is in charge of the bidding, and although the Baron bid higher, she gave her mizuage to Dr. Crab because she didn't do a better job of protecting her younger sister from Hatsumomo. After losing her virginity and making a lot of money off it, Mother deices to adopt Sayuri as her daughter, meaning that all of her earnings would go straight to the okiya, and that she would inherit the okiya itself when Mother died. Pumpkin, the one she was originally going to adopt, was furious by that change and it ended their friendship permanently. Unfortunately, the biggest blow ended up being on Hatsumomo because she realizes that not only Sayuri is out of her reach permanently, but she's now in more danger of being kicked out of the okiya by Mother and permanently banned from Gion. Sayuri needs to find a danna, who she hopes to be the Chairman, when in actuality, Nobu is the main candidate. During that time, she was very successful as a full fledged geisha with many other businessman of her own to be her danna.In the book, General Tottori becomes Sayuri's danna, because should Nobu become her danna, she would not be able to have any relations with the Chairman, as custom goes. During the time[book], Hatsumomo accuses her for keeping a journal in her room. It backfires right away when she finds her rival's brooch and tells Mother about it. Sayuri and Mameha drives successfully drive her out of the okiya and permanently bans her from Gion forever. In the movie, she had to fight Hatsumomo for the Chairman's handkerchief as well as helping Mother put out the fire.After the war breaks out and Sayuri's danna, General Tottori is charged as a criminal and loses everything, Nobu finds her a place to work and stay, as most of the geisha ended up in factories, still angry at her for not picking him. In the movie, she never had one in General Tottori and it was the same situation, except the Chairman had Mameha stay with his friend, a doctor in a remote place.After the war ends, Sayuri continues working with Nobu's friend Mr.Arashino and his family on kimonos in his home. Later on, she returns to Gion with Auntie and she treats the newly acquired maid that Mother took into train as a geisha under her with more kindness than the cruel treatment she received from Hatsumomo when they first met. She finds work as a geisha with Nobu and an American colonel named Derricks(The prime minister of Japan, Sato, in the book). After befriending the colonel(PM Sato in the book), he, the Chairman, Nobu, Mameha, Pumpkin, and Sayuri all take a trip to Okinawa.During that time, Sayuri plans to have Nobu hate her by having a relationship with Colonel Derricks(Prime Minister Sato in the book). However, she earns Mameha's anger as she vehemently warns against the plan, because it's wrong and childish of her. She warns her that she'll end up ruining her career like Hatsumomo did years earlier when she had a relationship with Koichi. She tells her that she needs to stop being selfish and accept Nobu as her danna because of all the kinds things he has done for her. Sayuri ignores Mameha's warning by telling her off that she wants to have a life of her own and not pursue Nobu. Later on, she asks Pumpkin for one last favor to have him walk in on her and Colonel Derricks. Her plan almost works, except she instead brought in the Chairman and infuriates her. Outside, Sayuri demanded for an aswer to why she did brought him instead of Nobu because her orders for her were clear that she wanted him to hate her, not the Chairman. Pumpkin(Irate and hateful in the book, cool in the movie), vehemently tells her that she betrayed their friendship when she was adopted by Mother and took away the only home she wanted. As a result, she decides to pay her back by taking away the Chairman from her since she knew how much her former friend was in love with him. She wanted him to hate her that way she'll knows what's it like to lose something that was important to her as well. Pumpkin tells her that she intends to force her to pursue Nobu forever. Soon after, Sayuri was horrified to realize that her deceased enemy from her younger years in the okiya, Hatsumomo, has finally enacted revenge against her for being kicked out of the okiya by successfully taking away her chances at happiness. Her spirit was living inside a bitter, homeless Pumpkin all this time and was cut free soon after.The next day, Sayuri heads to the cliffs and finally lets go of the Chairman's hankercheif which she cherished so much over the years. She returns to the Nitta Okiya, depressed and hurt about what Pumpkin did to her. In her room at the okiya, a depressed Sayuri was thinking about what could've happened differently if she had heeded Mameha's warning in not going through with the plan and letting Nobu be her danna. However, her depression was temporarily broken when Mother comes in and tells her that she's to entertain a very important man. She gets ready to entertain this man and encourages the new maid with Mother to be a successful geisha. As she goes to her destination she awaits on who she assumes to be Nobu until she finds The Chairman waiting for her. He told her that he mentioned to Nobu about what happened, and he never spoke to her again. Now that his friend hated Sayuri, he approached her back in Kyoto at a teahouse (near a lake, in the movie) and professed in love for her, explaining that he only didn't tell her sooner because he saw that Nobu has a chance at happiness with her, and didn't want to take that away from his friend. He also mentions that Pumpkin's behavior towards Sayuri after she was nice to invited her to entertain Col.Derricks(PM Sato in the book) and those around her. In the end, she ended up being really selfish and ungrateful towrds her. To The Chairman, it was very unacceptable and disrespectful on Pumpkin's part.The movie ends with Sayuri and the Chairman locked in a passionate kiss, and the book continues to explain that the Chairman payed Mother a large sum of money to take Sayuri from the okiya, keeping her with him as his mistress. In the end of the book, Sayuri has moved to New York City with the Chairman, but lets him go, as his daughter cannot marry the man who could succeed him in his business because of the family's concern that the Chairman might have an illegitimate son with Sayuri and would pose as a possible threat to the wedding. She lets him go to ensure his success and happiness with the wedding. Sayuri opened a Japanese style tea shop and lived out the rest of her life in New York City, free from the dark influence of the okiya life in Gion that Mother and Granny suffered, until she died. Show less «